Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 12/05/2015
- Missing From:
- Missing From Springfield, Virginia
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 09/02/1996 (28)
- Age:
- Age 19 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’4, 122 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark gray fleece pullover sweatshirt with a Bass Pro Shop emblem, black pants and pink and black Vans shoes.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Akens has a tattoo of five butterflies on her left forearm and a tattoo of three red stars bursting on the top of her foot; photos of her tattoos are posted below this case summary. She wears eyeglasses with dark frames. Her nose and navel are pierced and the right side of her lower lip is pierced. She also has gauge-type piercings in her ears.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Katelin Akens disappeared on December 5, 2015, in Virginia. She was supposed to fly to Arizona from Reagan National Airport, and her former stepfather, James Branton, drove her to a mall to catch a train to the airport. Branton texted Akens’s mom saying he’d dropped her off, and minutes later, Akens texted her mom from her phone saying she was at the airport.
However, Akens never boarded her flight. Hours later, her mom received strange texts from Akens’s phone saying she was with a friend and needed time alone. These texts were sent from a location far from the airport, near Interstate 95.
This was unusual for Akens, who was excited to start cosmetology school in Arizona. Police investigated and found that Branton lied about dropping her off at the mall. A few days later, her mostly empty suitcase was found in a ditch far from the airport, but near Branton’s house. Her clothes and diploma were missing.
Branton refused to cooperate with the police, and Akens’s disappearance remains a mystery. Police suspect foul play.
- Agency:
- Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office 540-582-7115
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 12/05/2015